Advertising display device



Sept. 12, 1939. H MPHREY' 2,172,583

ADVERTIS ING DI SPLAY DEVICE Filed Dec. 15, 1956 INVENTOR I wumeoflllu/vpmrsr ATTORNEY 50 as, cardboard, wood, metal, etc.

Patented Sept. 12, 1939 ADVERTISING DISPLAY DEVICE.

Willard D. Humphrey, Bronxville, N. Y., assignor to Magazine Repeating Razor Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 15, 1936, Serial No. 115,960

2 Claims. (Cl. 248174) a display sign adapted for use on store counters and to this end the invention provides means for holding a display card well above the counter, where it will not interfere with goods placed on the counter itself and will not form an obstruction between clerk and customer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a display card supported on a column made of stiff sheet material, such as cardboard, which 1 is folded lengthwise so as to stiffen the column,

but which may be flattened out and folded transversely within the confines of the display card.

Another object of the invention is to provide the column with a detachable base built up of separate members suitably notched for interengagement, so that the base may be taken apart when desired and be packed flat with the rest of the display sign.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. display board or card of light, stiff, sheet material, such as cardboard, on which advertising matter may be printed and in which openings are provided to receive samples of the goods advertised, the openings having convex marginal walls so as to grip the samples inserted therein.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the following description of a preferred embodiment and thereafter the novelty and scope of the invention will be pointed out in a the claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing mainly the front of my display sign;

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section taken on the 40 line 22 of Fig. 1;

5 showing how the base is assembled to support the column of the display sign.

The advertising display sign shown in the drawing comprises a board or card l0 which may be made of any stiff, light, sheet material, such On this card suitable advertising matter may be printed or otherwise applied. In order to support the card at a considerable elevation, so that if used on a store counter it will stand well above the other 55 goods on display, I support the card on a column or stem II. This column is formed of a strip of stiff, sheet material capable of taking a fold, such, for instance, as cardboard. In order to fold up the column when packing the device for shipment or storage it is provided with a transverse crease l2 on which the strip ll may be folded as long as the strip is in flat form. However, in order to stiifen the column when it is desired to have it support the card the strip is longitudinally creased parallel to each side edge, as indicated at l3, so that it may be folded along the longitudinal creases to produce a column of channel form comprising a pair of parallel flanges Ha and a connecting web llb. While thus folded on the longitudinal creases it will be obvious that the column cannot fold on the transverse crease I2 without buckling the flanges.

At the upper end of the strip there is an extension M of the web defined by a transverse crease I5, on which it is to be folded down. The extension or tab I4 is separated from the flanges I la by notches Mic, but it is wide enough to overlie the ends of the flanges when the latter are in folded position and the tab is provided with slots I6 adapted to receive and hold hooked tongues l7 formed on the flanges so as to hold the flanges in folded position. It will be understood that the web ,llb is glued or otherwise secured to the card Iii only in that portion which lies between the creases l2 and [5, while the tab l4 and flanges Ila are left free so that they may be folded. The side flanges are also held in folded position at their lower ends by inserting the channel in a rectangular socket formed in a base.

A solid block may be used for the base, but I prefer to have the base formed of a plurality of interlocking pieces of wood which may be taken apart whenever desired. This construction I find produces a very substantial base which at the same time is strong and light. Such a base, as shown particularly in Fig. 4, may consist of two wooden strips 18 disposed in parallel relation and spaced apart just sufliciently to receive the web llb of the column. The two strips I8 are held in this spaced relation by a pair of transversestrips l9 adapted to bear against the front face of the column and the rear edges of the flanges. Each strip i8 is provided with a pair of notches 20 extending from the top halfway through the depth of the strip. Each strip I9 is formed with a similar pair of notches 2| extending from the bottom half-way up to the top of the strip. Actually the strips are interchangeable, one pair being merely inverted with respect to the other so that when fitted together in the manner shown in Fig. 4 their notched portions will interlock and the upper edges of all the strips will lie in the same plane. Between the intersecting pairs of strips a rectangular socket is formed which is just large enough to receive the column II when folded to channel form.

When it is desired to dismantle and fold up the display device, the base is taken apart, the tongues I! are disengaged from the slots Hi, the flanges Ila are flattened out into the plane of web llb and then the strip I! is folded on the crease 12. It will be noted that the crease I2 is adjacent to but within the lower margin of the card ill and the length of the strip below the crease is such that when the strip is folded it will not project beyond the confines of the card Ill.

The card is preferably formed with openings 24 to receive samples of the goods advertised. These openings, as shown in Fig. 1, are four-sided to receive rectangular boxes 25, these boxes being dummy samples of the goods advertised. In fact, it is only necessary to support the covers of the boxes in the openings 24 in order to give the appearance of actually displaying the goods advertised. In order to hold the boxes 25 in place and prevent them from being jarred out of the openings I form the openings with convex marginal walls 26 which bite into the sides of the boxes 25 and grip them. The further the boxes are inserted in the openings the more tightly will they be gripped because while the side walls of the boxes will flex quite freely near their free edges they become increasingly stiff toward the top or outer wall of the box.

While I have shown openings for rectangular boxes it will be obvious that the openings can be of other shapes for other forms of boxes. However, the marginal walls of the openings are of such contour as to flex the side walls of the boxes inwardly. Thus, while I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention it will be understood that I reserve the right to make various changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the claims.

I claim:

1. A supporting column for a display stand comprising a strip of stiff material longitudinally creased on one side to define a body portion and a pair of flanges adapted to be folded toward each other out of the plane of the body portion so as to stiffen the column, one end of each of said flanges terminating short of the end of said body portion, and hooked tongues formed on said ends of said flanges, said body portion being creased transversely on said side at said ends of said flanges toform a tab and being provided with slots in alignment with said longitudinally extending creases to receive said hooked tongues when said flanges have been folded and said tab has been folded down upon the ends of said folded flanges.

2. A supporting column for a display stand comprising a strip of stiff material longitudinally creased on one side to define a body portion and also a pair of flanges adapted to be folded toward each other out of the plane of the body portion so as to stiifen the column, one end of each of said flanges terminating short of one end of said body portion, said body portion being creased transversely on said side at said ends of said flanges to form a tab adapted to be folded against said ends of said flanges when said flanges have been folded toward each other to stiffen the column, and means securing said tab to said ends of said flanges, said body portion and flanges being also creased transversely on a single line on said side of said strip at a point at least as close to the free end of said tab as to the other end of said body .portion and flanges whereby said strip of material when said flanges and tab are unfolded into the plane of said strip may be folded about said transverse line and said body portion and flanges on one side of said line be brought in face to face contact with said body portion and flanges and tab at the other side of said line.

WILLARD D. I-IUMPHREY. 

